Long road: Koepka's journey now includes a US Open title

Powerful winds battered the US Open on Sunday as a wide-open final round got under way with a cluster of inexperienced contenders aiming to claim their first major title.

The scoring throughout the tournament was record breaking, and the course was criticised prior to the championship for both it's tough grass and wide fairways.

Replay the club-slamming, bag-kicking behavior caught on camera of the emotional 22-year-old Spaniard Jon Rahm during his two rounds at Erin Hills, and you get the picture.

Koepka had a great Round; he was playing his best and didn't crumble under pressure.

Fleetwood was by far the most impressive throughout the entirety of the week.

Top final scores: 272: Brooks Koepka (67-70-68-67). Fowler's 10 under was only good for a fifth-place tie. Incidentally, he now moves to a career high of World No. 21 as a result of his performance. If you can play the ball on the ground, negotiate the elements, and be able to chuckle at the golf gods' menace, you might one day drink from the Claret Jug. So it was pretty cool to get that, and to play well today (Sunday) on top of it was extra special. Maybe I was too small, but it drove me nuts. He made a great Putt to Par the Hole and that was a real turning point for him. But Thomas followed his record-setting 63 with a 75, and his hopes were essentially dashed after three bogeys over the first five holes.

"It was a long phone call for us, it was like two minutes". He finished +2 for the tournament and T42.

Li, who turned professional at age 16 and won the Volvo China Open previous year on the European Tour, said he started pressing in the third round.

Brining up the rear of those that made the cut was stalwart Lee Westwood, who had put himself firmly in to contention early on in the tournament with an opening 69 but let it slip over the next few days with two 75s and a final-round 76.

But it was on the back nine that his charge really gained steam.

South Korea's Kim Si-Woo is one back on nine under, just ahead of Patrick Reed, Charley Hoffman and Russell Henley on eight under. As late as midway through the final round, the hardware looked up for grabs, only to little by little slide into his grasp; he kept a tie for the lead with a knee-knocking par on the 13th, and then took it for good with birdies on the next three holes.

The 28-year-old remained upbeat despite disappointment, putting it down to a lack of competitive golf this season.

"If I could do it over again, I'd play baseball-100 percent, no doubt", Koepka said.

There may be more majors to come for Koepka-as there may for Danny Willett, who shot an 81 then withdrew before the start of the second round with back pain.

There's one more unknown that was left unanswered for now: Will the USGA come back for another U.S. Open at Erin Hills?

"You don't get many rounds at the U.S. Open that are stress-free", Fowler said.

Madison's Steve Stricker finished 5 under par and did so with an exciting comeback in front of his adoring home crowd. "We started out this year and I thought I needed to win multiple times and a major", he explained.

At No. 15, the unsafe short par 4, he attacked a back-right pin, and netted another birdie.

Still, he could take some comfort and pride in matching the best finish ever by a Japanese in a men's Major, set by Isao Aoki, runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 US Open at Baltusrol.

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